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IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,942
It really depends on what kind of simmer you are, or expect to be. What's great is that everything is tiered. You get Expansions which tend to be massive gamechangers, you get the Game Packs which tend to be smaller, focused mini-expansions and then the Stuff Packs which is mostly things you might find you need depending on your playstyle.

Expansions
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Get to Work: It adds a set of actual workable jobs from doctor to detective. Which means instead of your Sim going offscreen for a bit, while they rack the Simoleons you get to directly control them at the new jobs. Later packs added even more of these more interactive jobs.

Get Together: Adds clubs which can run the gamut for homework clubs for kids, to straight up partying at night clubs. It's very much a deepening of the friendship system. Plus you get a gorgeous new town, Winderburg based off Europe. You can join existing clubs, or make up your own.

City Living: Adds San Myshuno, an expy of NY city and festivals to participate in. Mostly it adds the option to rent an apartment which can go from dirt cheap to mega expansive in rent. You also get new careers like politician and critic.

Cats and Dogs: PETS! PETS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE! You can now purchase and adopt cats and dogs. And be a veterinarian. Also adds a new town. Pets have their own traits and needs to discover and cater to.

Seasons: Widely considered THE most desirable pack, this one adds seasons and weather systems to the game. And holidays like Halloween and Christmas (with changed names). IMO this is a true must own for any Sims 4 player. It's the game's salt and pepper. Plus snow angels. And Santa. Come on.

Get Famous: I love this one. It adds Sims LA, Del Sol Valley and a pretty in-depth celebrity system. Take your Sim from nobody to global superstar. The best part is the new acting career which is fully playable like the ones added in Get to Work.

Island Living: Adds the beautiful tropical world of Sulani, one of my favorite destinations in the Sims 4 and the new conservationist career which is both fully playable and actually affects the island itself. Plus it adds mermaids which are the easiest occult Sims to play. Just lay back, bask in the sun and lure Sims to their drowning with your songs at night. Or don't. Seriously don't.

Game Packs
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Outdoor Retreat: Adds a vacation world where you can rent a cabin for a while and take in the sights. Or you can camp outdoors. If you are a Friday the 13th fan, it's great fun. There might even be a crazy person in the woods, who knows (hockey mask not included).

Spa Day: Do you want your Sims to be yoga freaks? This is your pack. It's all about relaxation. Burn some incense, medidate, get a massage. It helps a lot with Sims stressful lives.

Dine Out: Do you want to be Sims Gordon Ramsay? This is your shot. You can now own and operate your own restaurant. Hire staff, pick your menu, entertain your guests. It's a lot harder than it sounds but if you get a restaurant running, the Simoleons will flow straight into your pockets. A must IMO. Also it adds restaurants in general. Kind of a big deal.

Vampires: Oh now this is my favorite of all Game Packs. Become an immortal vampire. Burn in the sun, be repelled by garlic! Drink the blood of your fellow Sims (or be lazy and order blood off the Internet). Vampires have an XP system, skill trees, and various strengths and weaknesses to pick from and it adds a delightful little world that's very Tim Burton-esque.

Parenthood: A major, major update to toddlers up to teens. It's a must own if you plan on playing a family. Every non-adult Sims gets various traits to level up which will mold them into their future self. Will your needy toddler turn out OK? Will your irresponsible teen turn out better? That's on you now.

Jungle Adventure: Become Indiana Jones for a bit and risk literal death as you explore the vacation world of Selvadorada. This is very much an adventure themed pack, with riches and treasures to be found.

Strangerville: Explore the bizarre town of Strangerville in this second adventure pack. The inhabitants are weird, kooky plants and growing everywhere and if you start digging for info, you might find yourself into a boss fight. It's that kind of party.

Realm of Magic: It's Harry Potter time. Become a powerful spellcaster! Dozens of spells to be learnt and potions to be brewed. This one is very in-depth and almost could have been a full expansion. It's that big. It's an absolute treat to be a wizard.

Stuff Packs
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Not much to say here. These packs are basically really not as important as the ones above IMO. There's some really great ones like Movie Hangout which can lead to a full outdoor cinema if you want, and then there's stuff like the Moschino Pack which adds a career and not much else. If you want kids, Kids Room is great and comes with the Sims version of Pokemon. I also love the Backyard Stuff Pack so the kids can play in an inflatable waterslide as dad BBQ out back.
Thank you so much. I think I'll make Seasons and Cats & Dogs my starting points and see how I feel from there.
Do I need to make a new Sim if I buy a new expansion or just all seamlessly updates?

Edit: v Thanks again! You too Spyware! 🤔
 
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Spyware

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,455
Sweden
Is there a good buying guide/must haves for this game? I really wanna get back into The Sims, but immediately nope out at all the add-ons and their pricing every time. So far from looking some stuff up Seasons looks great, but it's like £30 or £40, so I'm waiting on it to go on a sale with the base game at least.

Yeah The Sims 4 goes on sale all the time so be patient.

I made this post back before Island Living so it's missing a couple of packs now.

Alright, Spyware's subjective guide to Packs! I listed them in order of best to a little less best in my own opinion, but tried to explain what they add in an informative way too. Stuff Packs are simply super subjective tho.

All packs can be previewed on Origin under the tab contents. Not every single item is in there, I noticed when checking StrangerVille. And you can't see all the color options. But it gives a good idea of what items they have so you can pick the stuff that fit your style!

Expansion Packs:
These are big packs that add lots of items, clothes and new systems.

Seasons - The Pack to get when you just want more content overall. It's sort of self-explanatory with the seasons part. Baked in there is the calendar system. It has some pre-made holidays like Winterfest and New Year's, but you can also make your own and some will pop up randomly. Holidays are all about traditions and letting your sim do those things that define the holiday. It also adds Gardening as a career.

City Living - Very subjective, of course, but I just can't have The Sims without a bustling city world with apartment buildings and penthouses. It also adds festivals that take place at specific areas at specific times. It also adds Politician, Critic and Social Media as careers.

Cats & Dogs - I am happy about the way pets work in The Sims 4 but the main reason I have this one so high is the world that comes with it. I really like that place! The cats and dogs are fun, they can be trained in various ways and so on. It doesn't add much else besides these pets and the Veterinarian self-employment "business manager" career but it has some great build/buy stuff.

Get Together - I think people usually put this last and I get why. The club system isn't really good and that's pretty much all it adds when it comes to substantial stuff. But again, there is an absolutely wonderful world in this one. I'm in love with the Tudor architectural style and it adds lots of nice things for anyone interested in building houses. The world itself is diverse and very pretty.

Get Famous - This pack adds a huge amount of very pretty and cool items, and the very fun acting career. But I don't find the whole thing about celebrities to be that fun. The fame system is very well made tho and it's not a bad pack in any way. Just not the type of stuff I play The Sims 4 for. It adds a nice world but it's very small.

Get to Work - This one adds the Detective, Doctor and Scientist active careers (which means you can follow your sims to work and control them there instead of them just being gone for a while). It adds a tiny world aimed at being a self-employment retail store place so you can let your sim manage that kind of business too. You can just make a residential lot there too if you wanna live in a little city area. It also adds aliens, and they are pretty cool.

Game Packs:
These are smaller packs that are more focused on a single thing.

Parenthood - Pretty much the essential pack if you play with families. Parenting becomes a skill and the sims get character traits like manners, emotional control and such that you can either try to balance or use to make the sims have a more extreme personality. It adds bunch of interactions between adults and kids. As said, pretty much essential if you care about the family aspect of playing Sims.

StrangerVille - The unique story pack that feels much bigger than a "Game Pack". It adds a world that is as big as the one that comes with Get Famous and it just looks absolutely great. There is a huge amount of good build items (meaning doors, fences, windows, columns and such) too. The unique part is an actual storyline with sort of quests you can play through.

Spa Day - The Finnish blood in me demands I put the sauna high on the list! No but I actually love the wellness skill it adds with the yoga and meditation stuff. Also spa venues with great looking items.

Vampires - The best version of Vampires in the series. They have a skill system where you get to pick their strengths and weaknesses when they "level up". Very involving gameplay. It adds a tiny Vampire world with longer nights and spooky looks and many good looking items.

Jungle Adventure - This is a "vacation" style package. It adds a new location where you can't live, you can only go there on vacation and rent a place for a while. The adventure part if pretty funny tho, with some puzzle solving and choices to make so that you might find some treasure deep in the jungle.

Dine Out - This one is all about another self-employment career where you own restaurants, get to build the venues and hire staff. That's pretty much it. The self-employment "business manager" careers are definitely not for everyone, and I personally prefer other types.

Outdoor Retreat - Another "vacation pack", but this one is all about just being in the woods, alone of with friends. Sit around the campfire or hunt down interesting insects.

Stuff Packs:
Self explanatory really. They add stuff based on a specific theme!

Laundry Day Stuff - This pack was sort of made by the community. During a set period of time we got to vote on what the pack should be about (which was obviously won by laundry), then which style (old school or modern) and also on the items we wanted from a gallery of stuff. It turned out great! It adds laundry as a system, so you have to wash the clothes unless you want the to get strewn everywhere. Obviously only for people who like the "chores" of the sims' lives.

Kids Room Stuff - Adds a fun monster collection card system kids can play with and some well-needed kids stuff including furniture, clothes and hairstyles.

Fitness Stuff - Great looking clothing, new looks for the gym equipment and a rock climbing treadmill!

Bowling Night Stuff - More good looking things plus bowling as an activity and a skill.

Movie Hangout Stuff - Lovely bohemian style items and home theaters!

Vintage Glamour Stuff - Simply beautiful formal clothing.

My First Pet Stuff - This pack is very hated. I can understand why. It's basically useless if you do no have Cats & Dogs. It does add small pets that you have in a sort of terrarium, but it also adds items and clothing for only cats and dogs to use. I love the content in it but it's stuff that I agree should have been separated into a specific small pets pack and items that should have just been in Cats & Dogs.

Perfect Patio Stuff - Here be hot tubs!

Backyard Stuff - Slip 'n' slide! Some nice items.

Toddler Stuff - Mostly a bunch of new playground items.

Cool Kitchen Stuff - Can never have enough kitchen stuff. That's just how it is.

Luxury Party Stuff - Party/formal clothes mostly (Psst, Vintage is better ;D)

Spooky Stuff - Halloween themed rather than Vampires' style of creepy stuff. Goes well together with Seasons nowadays!

Romantic Garden Stuff - Sorry but this is actually quite a bad pack, the only one I would say I could have just as well been without. There are very few areas were these flowery marble things fit unless you're making a fancy mansion, a wedding venue or a love themed park.

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Hope this was helpful in any way for someone! If not, that doesn't really matter, I just like writing about Sims stuff...

I love Island Living thanks to the location, themed builds and items it came with. It feels a little too separated from the rest maybe. It doesn't really feel as natural going on a date in other worlds with a Sulani sim as it does with a sim from any other world.
I can't say much about Realm of Magic other than that it has amazing build mode objects (seriously, someone watching my builds from the outside would probably think I only have RoM, Get Together, Seasons and StrangerVille). I have not yet actually played with it so that part I know nothing about. Seems fun tho! Moschino Stuff is cool with some very unique items. I'm using it way more than I expected.
 

Jessie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,921
We've got to get a teaser today, right? We're three weeks out and Tuesdays are trailer days.
 

Jessie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,921
I can't wait to use the fulledit cheat to change all of the buildings. Turning the magic realm HQ into a castle was amazing.
 

TUFCfan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
562
Is there a good buying guide/must haves for this game? I really wanna get back into The Sims, but immediately nope out at all the add-ons and their pricing every time. So far from looking some stuff up Seasons looks great, but it's like £30 or £40, so I'm waiting on it to go on a sale with the base game at least.

Try having a look on CDKeys. Seasons is currently £17.99 on there and they can get cheaper than that. That is for PC though not console.
 
OP
OP
Dullahan

Dullahan

Always bets on black
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,410
I'm using Lilsimsie's renovation of the magic HQ. It's damn awesome. You can legit live in the realm forever!
 

Jessie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,921
For the lurkers who are interested in this game because of University, I also recommend the following packs:

Get Together — Adds a club system that allows you to gather Sims and perform group activities, like playing games, dancing, watching TV, cleaning, etc. This could work really well with your University storytelling.

City Living — Introduces apartment buildings and a lot of apartment inspired items. Right now it's the only pack where you can rent your home.

Seasons — For all you east coasters and Europeans, you'll know that winter is a huge part of the university experience. Seasons is the best pack released so far.

Dine Out — Adds restaurants. You can get creative and add fast food restaurants, which are a huge part of the university experience.

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Vampires — For all of your Twilight crossover dreams. Your vampire sim will probably die in the sunlight going to class, but it might lead to cool storytelling opportunities if they only go to night classes and try not to let their dorm mates figure out their identity.

Realm of Magic — For all of your Harry Potter crossover dreams. Like vampires, you can play as a spellcaster trying to keep their powers a secret in a dorm.

Perfect Patio Stuff — Adds hot tubs, which are a must if you want an upscale dormitory and more WooHoo options.

Spooky Stuff — Adds Halloween parties and inspired items. This is cool if you want to throw a Halloween party in your dorm.

Bowling Night Stuff — Bowling was a part of Sims 3 University, but you'll have to buy it separately in Sims 4. Boo.

Laundry Day Stuff — Adds laundry to Sims 4, including rancid dirty laundry, which is a must for an authentic university experience.
 

Jessie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,921
screen1.jpg


OK this is everything I wanted. I'm concerned about the lack of a pool table, but we have Shower WooHoo and toilet stalls back, so I have to choose my battles.
 

Spyware

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,455
Sweden
contractl0k6c.jpg


THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SEALED
Same!
I had no money and was gonna have to skip this for a while. Yes, I know, it's unheard of! Completely bonkers! Spyware is the one with all the packs all the time, how is the world gonna survive this?!
But it turns out one of my friends still sub to my Twitch channel even tho I stopped streaming early this year. His sub pushed me over the payout threshold and some PayPal money rolled in. It's a sign, right?
 

Pangorogoro

Member
Oct 31, 2017
674
November 15th is going to be a busy day for me, I think I'm going to play as much University as I can until my copy of Pokemon comes in the mail
 

Deleted member 4208

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
409
Just got my preorder in too! I'm literally counting the days now. Once it's out I'll probably play through with my current Sims for a while to get a feel for how things work with the new pack but eventually I want to go back to my starter Sims and let them go through college with a fresh start on a new save.
 

Deleted member 3208

Oct 25, 2017
11,934
For anyone interested, some expansion packs are in sale in Origin. Doubt the price will go lower in Black Friday and Christmas.
 

TheAbsolution

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,387
Atlanta, GA
Gonna wait and see on University to see what's actually included on this one. Have been pretty disappointed with the various packs this year, despite my comments earlier in the year about this game.
 

Wraith

Member
Jun 28, 2018
8,892
Sims 4 content on sale on Origin:
  • All released Expansion Packs* 50% off ($20)
  • Vampires Game Pack 50% off ($10)
  • Spooky Stuff Pack 50% off ($5)
  • Base game ($8), Deluxe ($10)
*No, University isn't on sale yet.

Also noticed a banner on the University page says system requirements have changed. Comparing to the specs from Island Living:
  • Windows:
    • Windows 7/8/8.1/10 required (Windows XP and Vista dropped)
    • Minimum system RAM now 4GB (was 2GB)
    • Minimum hard drive space 15GB (was 9GB)
  • Mac:
    • OS 10.11 El Capitan required (was 10.8 Mountain Lion), 10
    • Minimum hard drive space 15GB (was 14GB)
 

InfiniDragon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,305
This weekend: Bought Island Living.

Then bought Vampires and Magic.

Then bought City Living.

Please... help me.

City Living is dope, my favorite by far. You might need mods to limit the Hindi/Japanese names on the NPCs though, there was a bug where if you had CL it would give any newly created NPC sim the San Myshuno names, and was a bit jarring when everyone had the same names all over the place. It might have been fixed by the devs though.
 

Jessie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,921
City Living is dope, my favorite by far. You might need mods to limit the Hindi/Japanese names on the NPCs though, there was a bug where if you had CL it would give any newly created NPC sim the San Myshuno names, and was a bit jarring when everyone had the same names all over the place. It might have been fixed by the devs though.

They FINALLY fixed the City Living and Island Living name/skin tone bug. It was really off-putting how every single townie had a Japanese name, a dark skin tone, and blonde hair.
 

InfiniDragon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,305
They FINALLY fixed the City Living and Island Living name/skin tone bug. It was really off-putting how every single townie had a Japanese name, a dark skin tone, and blonde hair.

Dope, good to hear. I had modded it to stop it and then manually went and made every townie unique that was affected (yes, it did take forever lol).
 

Punchline

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,151
Honestly that bug bothered the shit out of me but now i dont know what the drive will be for me to go in and fix the townies myself, which is a task i greatly enjoy

The drive will probably be all the homeless sims because i hate making friends with a townie and cant visit them lol
 

Deleted member 18857

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,083
With the recent news that EA is coming back to Steam, what would be the situation if/when Sims4 would move regarding mods?
Are mod handling on Origin good? Is there any chance they'll block mods via Steam? Or that even if you buy it on Steam, you'll have to go through Origins anyway?

(I guess the answer to all of these is "we don't know yet"...)
 

Spyware

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,455
Sweden
With the recent news that EA is coming back to Steam, what would be the situation if/when Sims4 would move regarding mods?
Are mod handling on Origin good? Is there any chance they'll block mods via Steam? Or that even if you buy it on Steam, you'll have to go through Origins anyway?

(I guess the answer to all of these is "we don't know yet"...)
Modding has nothing to do with Origin, it's all manual by putting files in a specific Mods folder in the Sims folder in Documents. Would be no different if bought on Steam.

Honestly that bug bothered the shit out of me but now i dont know what the drive will be for me to go in and fix the townies myself, which is a task i greatly enjoy

The drive will probably be all the homeless sims because i hate making friends with a townie and cant visit them lol
You could just delete a bunch of generated Sims and the game will make new ones that shouldn't be affected by the bug? At least I assume so! I usually go in and delete a bunch of boring auto generated homeless sims when I play since I don't want too many spawns taken up by townies not made by me.
 

MaitreWakou

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
May 15, 2018
13,180
Toulouse, France
Finally decided to create a vampire, it's really fun.
My vampire is a fuck machine, anyone who sees him spend the night with him after like, 3 or 4 interactions.
Turning some random people into vampires is also pretty fun.
 

elyetis

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,549
I'd kill to see the game have a better gestion of custom content with at least the ability to delete it from inside the game where you can both get a preview of what it is.
I've tons of CC, i'll sometimes see a NPC with fucked up texture because of one of them.... with no easy way to delete the problematic CC.
 

Aaron D.

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,295
I find myself really intrigued with Discover University.

As a Day 1 / Sims 1 owner and general franchise fanboy, I never purchased a University pack in prior titles.

Might have a bit to do with my age, as my college years began in '88, well before The Sims were even a thing.

But watching the reveal trailer and seeing modern-day Sims doing keg-stands, crying in public bathrooms, and playing beer pong has me wistful for those neon-soaked, synth-wave days of past.
 

Punchline

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,151
Modding has nothing to do with Origin, it's all manual by putting files in a specific Mods folder in the Sims folder in Documents. Would be no different if bought on Steam.


You could just delete a bunch of generated Sims and the game will make new ones that shouldn't be affected by the bug? At least I assume so! I usually go in and delete a bunch of boring auto generated homeless sims when I play since I don't want too many spawns taken up by townies not made by me.
oh i go in there and just use it as a canvas for making my sims to occupy their roles. i dont know if the motivation to do that, which is something i enjoy, this micro-management of my world, will be there if the sims are sticking out less as bugged generation.
 

InfiniDragon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,305
The only thing I dread about new expacs is having to redo mods for them, I can't play this without mods haha.


Once they're updated for University though I'm jumping back in.
 

Spyware

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,455
Sweden
The only thing I dread about new expacs is having to redo mods for them, I can't play this without mods haha.


Once they're updated for University though I'm jumping back in.
Usually the popular and active mods are already updated when the pack is out. The big "expansion patch" that messes with everything happens a couple of days before the release.